When to Get a New Toilet

So, how do you know that it is time to get a new toilet? Well, the first sign that a new toilet installation is in your future is when your wife starts to complain about the bathroom decor. Of course, this is insufficient motivation to use a Sunday that could have been spent watching football to put in a new plumbing fixture. That the tank leaks into the bowl may be a consideration, but this problem alone can be fixed by repairing the guts of the beast.

Of course, a toilet seat is an easy replacement, and a slow drain, with frequent backups is a sign of deeper plumbing problems or the need to have less sausage and cottage cheese in your diet. Also, cleaning the toilet may become a more frequent activity as the ceramic on the inside of an old bowl can be scraped up and attract black filmy crud that will grow into sea-weed if left too long.

Rather than any one factor, toilet replacement is normally brought on by a "sea of troubles" of which you feel it necessary to "take arms against". The obvious problems, like a cracked tank only come about once or twice in a century. Truth be told, toilets are pretty durable fixtures that can be made serviceable pretty much until Gabriel's Trumpet has you messing your pants. (In which case, you won't be needing a toilet any more).

Yet, all the factors add up. The toilet doesn't match the new wallpaper. Your wife wants new ceramic tile on the floor. You are having to wield the plunger every two or three days. At every flush you pray that what is left floating will actually be sucked down so you don't have to wait for the tank to fill so you can flush again, and perhaps again. The final straw, little Johnny has thrown his remote control main-line battle tank in the bowl and with the force of a plunger and several consecutive flushes lodged it in the trap. You are going to have to remove the toilet to clear the obstruction anyway. Maybe this really is the time for a new toilet.